This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1972. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.

Why Historical Insurance Policies May Be Accessible

Pre-1986 Commercial General Liability (CGL) policies were occurrence-based and did not contain an effective pollution exclusion in Washington. If contamination occurred while those policies were active, those historical insurance carriers may still have a legal obligation to fund the cleanup costs, even if the business closed or the property changed hands.

The steel USTs at this site were in service around the time the facility opened in 1972 — more than a decade before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies ceased to offer reliable pollution coverage. The documented presence of leaded gasoline in soil samples confirms that dispensing operations extend well into the pre-1986 coverage window. Remediation expenditures spanning more than three decades — UST removal, soil excavation, vapor extraction, chemical injection, and continuous groundwater monitoring — represent costs that historical CGL carriers whose policies were in force during those early years of operation may be obligated both to recover and to fund through the ongoing RI/FS.

Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful coverage claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage. Restorical then manages the claim, including accounting, to ensure the cleanup is funded in a timely manner.